Georgia is a female barn owl (Tyto alba). She was turned over to us as a young owl; it was clear from her behavior that she had been raised by humans. It's a bit of a strange story, but we were told that she fell off a logging truck from Georgia and was given to someone in West Virginia to raise. Whatever the details, by the time she got to us, she was too comfortable around humans to safely return to the wild. We named her "Georgia" in honor of where she may have originated.
Barn owls can be found in open areas and farms around the world. They have excellent hearing, and can even catch prey in complete darkness. They swallow their food whole; in West Virginia, barn owls typically eat meadow voles, mice, rats, and other small rodents. Barn owls are very secretive, and often nest in human structures--attics, haylofts, churches, and other buildings.